How a Suspension Happens

Almost nobody finds out the interesting way. A Virginia licence is suspended by the DMV or by a court, and the reason is usually one of a short list: too many demerit points in too short a window, a conviction that carries a suspension by statute, a lapsed insurance certificate, or an unpaid DMV fee. Each has its own trigger, its own length and its own way out, and the DMV notice that arrives in the post rarely explains any of them.

The pages below work through what actually suspends a licence in Virginia and for how long, with the point thresholds and the statutes that set them. One thing that has changed and is worth knowing up front: unpaid court fines and costs no longer suspend a Virginia licence — § 46.2-395, the section that used to require it, has been repealed.